forcipate 
forcipate, forcipated (for'si-pat, -pa-ted), a. 
[< Nb. forriiHitivt, < L. fom'jis (/<"'<'</'-), for- 
ceps: see forceps.] 1. In zool., forceps-like; 
formed like a forceps ; f orficate ; furcate ; deep- 
ly forked : applied to various parts or organs 
of animals, as the anal styles of insects, the 
chelate limbs of crustaceans, the scissor-like 
tails of birds, etc. 2. In hot., having bowed 
tips which approach each other like those of a 
forceps. The tips of branches of the alga Cera- 
miitm are forcipate Forcipate labrum, a labrum 
much elongated, ami terminated with two movable hooka 
which act as jaws in seizing; prey : a structure found only 
in larval dragon-flies. Also called mask. 
forcipation (fdr-si-pa'shon), . [< L. forceps 
(forci)i-), forceps, pincers, + -ation.] 1. Tor- 
ture by nipping with forceps or pincers. 
A punishment of less torment far than either the wheel, 
or forcipation, yea, than simple burning. 
Bacon, Obs. on a Libel. 
2. In 2007., the state of being forcipated; for- 
ficatiou; bifurcation. 
forcite (for 'sit), . A disruptive compound 
containing nitroglycerin and other explosive 
substances. Eissler. 
forcloset (fQr-kl6z')> v. t. The more correct 
form, etymologically, of foreclose (which see). 
forcutt, v. t. [ME.forcutten,forkutten; < for- 
+ cut.] To cut through or completely. 
Eight as a swenlforcuttelh and forkerveth 
An arm atwo, my dere sone, right so 
A tonge cutteth fremtshipe al atwo. 
Chaucer, Manciple's Tale, 1. 237. 
ford (ford), n. [Early mod. E. also foord; < 
ME. ford (also frequently forth, furth, prob. by 
confusion with firth 2 , q. v.), < AS. ford = OS. 
"ford (in the compound local name Hertford) 
= OFries. forda = OD. vord, D. voort (in com- 
pound local names) = OHG. furt, MHG. vort, 
G. furt, a ford (much used in Teut. local names, 
as in E. Hartford, Hertford, Oxford, etc., G. 
Frankfurt, Erfurt, etc.); akin to L. portus, a 
harbor, port, Gr. ndpof, a passage, ford (B6a- 
rropof, Bosporus, lit. ' Oxford'), Zend peretu, a 
bridge, etc., and prob. to Icel. fjordhr, Sw. 
fjard, Norw. Dan. fjord, whence E. firth 2 , fiord, 
q. v. ; all ult. from the root of AS. faran, E. 
fare, go: see /are 1 .] 1. A place in a river or 
other body of water where it may be passed or 
crossed by man or beast on foot, or by wading. 
This flood-less Foord the Faithful! Legions pass, 
And all the way their shoo scarce moisted was. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Lawe. 
He swam the Esk river where ford there was none. 
Scott, Young Lochinvar. 
2. A stream to be crossed. 
This deep Ford of Affection and Gratitude to you I in- 
tend to cut out hereafter into small Currents. 
Howell, Letters, I. iv. 19. 
Permit my ghost to pass the Stygian ford. Dryden. 
ford (ford), v. t. [<ford, n.] To pass or cross, 
as a river or other body of water, by walking 
on the bottom ; pass through by wading. 
Stalking through the deep, 
He fords the ocean, while the topmost wave 
Scarce reaches up his middle side. 
Additon, jEneid, iii. 
In fording streams, it is well, if the water be deep and 
swift, to carry heavy stones in the hands, in order to re- 
sist being borne away by the current. 
J. T. Fields, Underbrush, p. 191. 
fordable (for'da-bl), a. [< ford + -able.] That 
may be waded or passed through on foot, as 
a body of water. 
The water being deep, and not fordable, he sav'd him- 
self by the help of a willow. Howell, Letters, I. vi. 29. 
Towards night he came cautiously forth, and finding the 
Chickahominy fordable within a hundred yards, he suc- 
ceeded in wading across. The Century, XXXV. 787. 
fordableness (for'da-bl-nes), n. The state of 
being fordable. 
fordedet, . [ME., < /or-, for, + dede, deed.] 
A deed done for another ; a benefit. 
All myghtfull lorde, grete is thi grace, 
I thanke the of thi grete fordede. York Plays, p. 175. 
fordelet, n. Seeforedeal. 
fordo (fr-d8')> v. t.; pret. fordid, pp. fordone, 
ppr. fordoing. [Also improp. foredo; < ME. 
fordon, < AS. fordon, destroy, ruin, kill (= 
OS. fardon = D. verdoen, kill, waste, = OHG. 
fartuon, MHG. vertuon, G. verthun, consume, 
spend, waste), < for- priv., away, + don, put, 
do: see /or-1 and do*, v. The word has no- 
thing to do with the slang phrase do for, which 
is sometimes used in explaining it.] 1. To do 
away; undo; destroy; ruin. 
Deth seith he wol for-do and a-doun brynge 
Al that lyueth other loketh a loixle and a watere. 
2321 
That synne will/ordoo all my beaute. 
Thomas of Ersseldoune (Child's Ballads, I. 101). 
This is the night 
That either makes me or fordoes me quite. 
Shak., Othello, v. 1. 
2. To exhaust, overpower, or overcome, as by 
fatigue. 
Give leave to rest me being half fordonnc. 
Spenser, Sonnets, Ixxx. 
The heavy ploughman snores, 
All with weary task fordone. Shak., M. N. D., v. 2. 
The soldier on the war-field spread, 
When Mforrdone with toils and wounds, 
Death-like he dozes among heaps of dead. 
Coleridge, Ode on the Departing Year, vi. 
[Obsolete or poetical.] 
fordreadt, v. t. [ME. fordreden, < AS. fordrce- 
tlan, terrify, < for- + draidan, fear, dread: see 
f or- 1 &ud dread, v.] To terrify greatly. Chaucer. 
146 
Pun Plowtnan (C), xxi. 28. 
The hethyn men were sofor-dredd, 
To Cleremount with the mayde they fledd. 
MS. Cantab. Ff. ii. 38, f. 89. (Halliwell.) 
fordrivet, v. t. [ME.fordriven, < AS. fordrifan 
(= OS. fordribhan = OFriea.fordriva = D. ver- 
drijven = LG. verdriben = OHG.fartnban, MHG. 
vertriben, G. vertreiben = Sw. fordrifva = Dan. 
fordrive), drive away, < for-, away, + drifan, 
drive: see for- 1 and drive, v.] 1. To drive 
away ; drive about ; drive here and there. 
We beoth see-weri men mid wedere alfordreoen. 
Layamon, I. 265 (later text). 
Whenne they in ese wene beste to lyve, 
They ben with tempest allefordryve. 
Rom. of the Rose, L 3782. 
fordrunkent, a. [ME. fordrunken, fordronken, 
< AS. fordruncen (= Icel. fordrukkinn = Sw. 
fordrukken = Dan. fordrukken), drunken, very 
drunken, < for- intensive + druncen, drunken : 
see /or- 1 and drunken.] Very drunk. 
The miller that fordronken. was al pale, 
So that unnethe upon his hors he sat, 
He nolde avalen neither hood ne hat. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Miller's Tale, 1. 12. 
fordryt, a. [ME. fordruye, < for- intensive + 
druye, drye, dry: see for- 1 and dry, a.] Very 
dry; withered. 
Amydde a treefordrye, as whyt as chalk, . . , 
There sat a faucon. Chaucer, Squire's Tale, L 401. 
fordullt, v . t. [Also improp. foredull; < for- 1 + 
dull 1 , v.] To make dull ; stupefy. Nash. 
What well of tears may serve 
To feed the streams of my fore-dulled eys ? 
Tancred and Gixmunda, ii. 170. 
fordwinet, v. i. [ME. fordwinen, < AS. fordwi- 
nan, dwindle away, vanish (= D. verdwijnen), 
< for-, away, + dwinan, dwine : see for- 1 and 
dwine.] To waste away ; dwindle. 
So long he laie in prisoun, in hunger and in pyne, 
That his lymes clonge awei, his bodie gan &lfordwine. 
Pilate (Early Eng. Poems, ed. Furnivall), 1. 214. 
fore 1 (for), prep., adv., and conj. [I. prep. < ME. 
fore, before, in front of, for, on account of, < 
AS. fore, before (in place, L. coratn, or in time, 
L. ante), for, on account of, cf. foran, prep., be- 
fore (in time), = OS. fora = OFries. fore = D. 
roor = OHG. fora, MHG. vore, vor, G. vor = 
Icel. fyrir = Sw. for = Dan. for = Goih.faura, 
before, for; the longer and more orig. form of 
for, q. v. II. adv. < ME./ore, before (in time), 
< AS. fore, before (in time), aforetime (= D. 
voor = OHG. fora, MHG. vor, vore, G. vor = 
Dan. for, before (in place), for, before (in time), 
= Sw. for, forr) ; cf . foran, before (in place) 
(= D. vooraan = OHG. forna, MHG. vorne, 
vorn, vornen, vorndn, G. vorn, before), = Dan. 
foran : see I. Cf. fore 1 , a. HI. conj. < fore, 
adv.: see I. and II. Fore (prep., adv., conj.), 
as an orig. simple form, has merged with fore, 
an abbr., by apheresis, of afore or before, and 
is now commonly regarded as such abbr., and 
hence often printed 'fore. Both fore and afore 
are now only dial, or colloq., before having 
pushed them out of literary use. See afore, 
before.] I. prep. Before (in place); in pres- 
ence of. [Obsolete except as an accepted ab- 
breviation of before.] 
The jnstise tolde the kinge/ore, 
That such a man he 863 [saw], 
St. Christopher, \. 133. 
What would you 'fore our tent? Shak., T. and C., i. 3. 
II. adv. 1 . Before (in place) ; in the part that 
precedes or goes first ; specifically, naut. , toward 
or in the parts of a ship that lie near the bows ; 
forward: opposed to aft. 2f. Before (in time); 
previously. 
Sende wittili to thiwif, and warne hire fore. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4142. 
Fore and aft. 
fore-and-aft 
IH.t conj. Before. 
Not a month 
'Fore your queen died, she was more worth such gazes 
Than what you look on now. Shak., W. T., v. 1. 
fore 1 (for), a. and w. [</ore-i, prefix ; being the 
prefix (to nouns) written separately, as in fore 
part. Strictly, as the regular accent in such 
compounds shows, fore, however written, is 
still, as always in ME. and AS., a prefix or 
component element, and not an independent 
adj. ; but the accent varies, and as to the 
manner of writing, whether as a prefix, with or 
without a hyphen, or as a separate word, usage 
wavers : forepart, fore-part, and fore part, for 
example, being used indifferently.] I. a. ; su- 
perl. foremost (for'most). Situated at the fore 
or front; front; forward; anterior; prior; for- 
mer ; being, coming, or going before or in front 
in place, or earlier in time : as, the fore legs of 
a horse ; the fore wheels of a wagon ; the fore 
part of the day. 
Neither were those things laid on his back which he 
after suffered, to make satisfaction for his fore sins. 
Tyndale, Ans. to Sir T. More, etc. (Parker Soc., 1850), 
[p. 112. 
Though there is an orb or spherical area of the sound, 
yet they move strongest and go farthest in the fore lines 
from the first local impression. Bacon. 
Resistance in fluids arises from their greater pressing on 
the/ore than hind part of the bodies moving in them. 
Cheyne. 
Fore and aft. See afti. Fore course. Seecourtei, 18. 
II. n. 1. The front: in the phrases at and to 
the fore (see below). 2. Naut., the foremast. 
At the fore, (a) Naut., set or shown on the foremast: 
said of a flag or signal. 
Medina Sidonia hoisted the royal standard " ' the fore. 
Motley, United Netherlands, II. 475. 
(ft) At or in the front 
Madison stood at the fore [in 1809]. 
Conyregationalist, June 3, 1886. 
To the fore, to or at the front ; ahead ; at hand ; forth- 
coming; also (Scotch), in being; alive. 
If Christ had not been to the fore, in our sad days, the 
waters had gone over our soul. Rutherford, Letters, i. 193. 
How many captains in the regiment had two thousand 
pounds to the fore? Thackeray. 
Mr. Ruskin comes to the fore with some characteristic 
remarks on the education of children. 
New York Tribune, April 2, 1886. 
fore 2 t. An obsolete preterit and past participle 
of fare 1 . 
fore 3 t, n. [ME., also for, < AS. for, journey, < 
jfara(pret./or),go: see fare 1 , v. Cf./are 1 ,^.] 
Way ; course ; manner of proceeding. 
Who folwith Cristes gospel and his fore, 
But we that humble ben and chast and pore ? 
Chaucer, Summoner's Tale, 1. 227. 
fore- 1 . [< ME. fore-, often for-, < AS. fore-, of- 
ten/or- (with equiv. foran-), fore-, before, be- 
ing the adv. and prep, fore used as prefix ; so in 
other languages: see fore 1 , prep., adv., and a., 
and for, for- 1 .] A prefix, equivalent to before 
(in place or time) : before nouns often written 
separately and regarded as an adjective (see 
fore 1 , a.). Fore (forel, adverb or adjective) is much 
used in the formation of compounds, most of them mod- 
ern and of obvious origin. Such modern compounds are, 
in this dictionary, usually left without etymological note. 
In nautical usage /ore! as a prefix notes relation to the 
foremast, as distinguished from the mainmast and mizzen- 
mast : as, /oresail ; /oretop. 
fore- 2 . [See for- 1 .] An erroneous form of 
for- 1 in some words, as in forego^, forespend, 
forespeak, etc., for forgo 1 , forspend, forspeak, 
etc., being obsolete in all but/orajro 2 . 
fore- 3 . [See /or- 3 .] An erroneous form of for- 3 , 
as in foreclose. 
fore-admonisht (for-ad-mon'ish), v. t. To ad- 
monish beforehand, or before the act or event. 
Foreadmonixhmg him of dangers future and invisible. 
Bp. Hall, Select Thoughts, Ii 
fore-adviset (for-ad-viz'), v. t. To advise or 
counsel before the time of action ; pre-admon- 
ish. 
Thus to have said, 
As you WQrefore-adms'd, had touch 'd his spirit, 
And tried his inclination. Shak., Cor., ii. 3. 
fore-alleget (for-a-lej'), e. * To allege or cite 
before. 
Good authors make it justly questionable whether these 
forealleged marriages should be deservedly charged with 
a sin. Bp. Hall, Cases of Conscience. 
fore-and-aft (for'and-aff), a. and . I. a. See 
the following nautical phrase. Fore-and-aft 
sails, sails extending from the center line to the lee side 
of a ship or boat, and generally set on stays or gaffs. Be- 
sides the jibs, staysails, trysails, and gaff-topsails of sea- 
going vessels, they include the lug-sails, lateen-sails, sprit- 
sails, and shoulder-of -mutton sails used in boats. As they 
may be trimmed more nearly in a line with the keel than 
square sails, they enable a vessel to sail closer to the wind. 
